"... Also, the Bhagavad-Gita, as It Is, read thus book in college and continue to consult it to this day for so many answers to the mysteries of life, any question I may be having has an answer in the BG!" Of purifiers I am the wind; of the wielders of weapons I am Rama; of fishes I am the shark, and of flowing rivers I am the Ganges. - Ch10 V31
"In my teens, I worked at a grocery store with a woman about 10 years older than me. She’d get my friend and I high after work and tell scandalous, delicious stories of sex and drugs, laced with revolutionary diatribes that blew my mind. She was super tiny and always stood when others sat or found that highest spot in the place so she was just a little bit above you. And, she deserved that spot. She wrote me a list of books to read. Makes Me Wanna Holler was one of them."
I had long considered myself a feminist before reading “Sister Outsider." I naively thought I understood issues of gender, but also race and class. But reading Audre Lorde "Sister Outsider" changed me. It changed how I viewed feminism and what it meant to me. It changed how I understood systems of power, oppression, patriarchy. It lead me to further my understanding by immersing myself in feminist theory, reading books by bell hooks, Gloria Anzaldua, and others. There’s so much to take away from “Sister Outsider." Her writing is beautifully philosophical, poetic, and powerful. I remember when I read this book 25 years ago, it was very common for white women focus on their oppression as women and ignore differences of race, sexual preference, class, and age. Before reading this book, I was one of them. Sadly, I think it’s still the case today. Many feminists concerns are is still narrowly focused, or feminism in general is poorly understood. This is why Audre Lorde’s writing is just as relevant, important and true today as it was then. Change cannot happen until we all strive to understand, confront, and talk about our differences, honestly examine our own privilege, understand oppression, or how race, class, age, sexual orientation intersect. It taught me to constantly challenge myself, to keep examining my thoughts around feminism and race, and to not be silent.
